 | | | Chris Wellbrook will compete in Morocco on November 7, 2009 Photo provided
| | | | | | After winning the USA National Karate Championship (NFK), Campolindo sophomore Chris Wellbrook went on to compete in the USA Team Trials for a place on the 2009 Olympic sanctioned National Karate team. The event was held on July 19, 2009.
Wellbrook successfully took one of 22 spots on the 15-20 year old male/female Team USA and as a result has competed around the world. Wellbrook traveled to San Salvador, El Salvador, where he competed in the Pan American Junior Championships with his USA teammates against 27 nations from North and South America. The Pan American Championships began in 1981. This annual competition brings the best athletes from across the Americas together for a four day, full contact karate tournament. Wellbrook took fifth place overall, losing to Mexico who eventually won the gold in his event.
Wellbrook, along with Team USA, are now heading to the World Karate Federation (WKF) Junior World Championships to be held in Rabat, Morocco November 7 through November 17. This event is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and occurs every two years. In order to prepare for the competition, Wellbrook will have the opportunity to go to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for five days to work with the National coaching staff to improve and refine his fighting style.
Achieving this goal was not an easy task and much needed to be sacrificed. Wellbrook has spent seven years studying and training in the art of karate a minimum of 10 hours per week. In addition, he has also worked diligently conditioning his body outside of the dojo to develop the strength, speed, power and cardiovascular conditioning necessary for him to be competitive at this elite level. Wellbrook gave up playing high school football to dedicate more time to his training.
Wellbrook said, "My parents put me in karate to help me develop self confidence and self defense. And honestly, I didn't like it at first. But they made me go once a week. After about a year, I began to love it. Now, when I look back through the years of hard work and realize the doors it has opened for me, I have no regrets. By the end of these two trips, I will have competed on five separate continents throughout the world."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA